Sorting Out Seasonal Waste: Local Contact Points for Smarter Waste Management High-consumption periods bring joy, but they also bring some of the biggest waste surges of the year. From wrapping…
Organizations Working on Reducing Packaging Waste Globally: Highlighting NGOs and International Initiatives As the Christmas season now feels like a recent memory, many of us can still picture the scale…
Apps and Tools to Track Your Waste Reduction Efforts: Making Waste Reduction Accessible Through Technology For many people, the intention to reduce waste is already there. They bring reusable bags,…
MAGNO Consortium & Review Meeting in Vimercate: Over the past days, the MAGNO consortium gathered in Vimercate (Milan), Italy, for an important milestone in the project’s journey: our latest Consortium…
Websites, Books, and Documentaries about Plastic Pollution: Curating a Consumer-Friendly Library of Resources If someone wants to learn about plastic pollution today, they don’t lack information. A quick search delivers thousands of articles, videos, reports and opinions in seconds. The real challenge is knowing where to start. Too much information, without guidance, can be just as paralysing as not having any at all. Faced with endless lists and…
A Story of Inspiration for collective action: From One Strike to Millions When Greta first skipped school to sit outside the Swedish Parliament, few paid attention. But her persistence sparked conversations at dinner tables, classrooms, and city halls. Soon, thousands of students across Europe joined her—then millions around the world. In 2019, the Global Climate Strike became one of the largest coordinated protests in human history. This is the power of collective action: one voice becomes a chorus, and a chorus becomes a force that can’t be ignored. Plastic-free challenges, community campaigns, and citizen-driven projects work the same way. They start small, they grow steadily, and then they shift the conversation entirely. Back to the future, every major shift in history has started with ordinary people refusing to accept the status quo.…
How Consumers Can Get Involved in School or Community Efforts: Building Local Connections for Action Big shifts toward sustainability don’t always start in Brussels boardrooms or corporate headquarters. Very often, they begin much closer to home—in our schools, neighbourhoods, and community centres, which is much affordable even. Local initiatives are where ideas take root, habits form, and young people learn by example. When consumers engage with these community-level projects, they don’t just reduce waste or cut emissions—they help build a culture of responsibility that grows stronger with each generation. Why Local Matters Schools and community organisations are trusted spaces. They shape values, provide education, and create opportunities for…
Engaging Schools and Youth Organisations. Tools for Parents and Teachers Children and young people are often presented as “the future”. The ones who will fix what previous generations broke. The…
Good Business, Better World: Encouraging Responsible Practices Consumers today are surrounded by sustainability claims—eco-labels, green packaging, and promises of responsibility. Some are genuine, others less so. The challenge is telling the difference between marketing and meaningful action. Yet beyond the noise, there are businesses across Europe and beyond that are truly rethinking how they operate. Supporting them is more than a shopping choice: it’s a way to encourage a shift in the entire marketplace toward healthier, fairer, and more sustainable practices. Europe has a unique opportunity here. With ambitious frameworks like the European Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan, and the forthcoming Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), the EU is setting a global benchmark for sustainability. But regulations alone are not enough—businesses must embrace the shift, and consumers can accelerate that momentum by rewarding those that genuinely lead. What Responsible Businesses Look Like Sustainability…
From Shoppers to Advocates: How Consumers Can Influence Brands to Rethink Packaging Europe prides itself on being a leader in sustainability but walk into any supermarket or online order pickup point and the reality is different: shelves groaning with overwrapped goods, single-use plastic trays for food that could be sold loose, boxes padded with absurd layers of bubble wrap and filler. The invisible hand has a plastic transparent glove. Packaging is everywhere, and most of it is unnecessary. Despite ambitious EU directives—the Single-Use Plastics Directive, the Packaging…